Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times carries the comment by the prime minister addressed to Franco Debono: Resign for the common good. It also reports how the EU yesterday said that Malta's finances are sound and stable.

The Malta Independent also leads with the European Commission's comments on Malta's finances.

In-Nazzjon says the European Union issued a positive certificate to Malta on its finances. It also reports that the PN will convene its general council.

l-orizzont says the PN is trying to stretch the calling of a general election.  It also says that Joseph Muscat has kicked the ball into the PN's court but will act if the PN does not.

The overseas press:

Al Thawra announces the Syrian government has blamed an "armed terrorist group" for the mortar attack it said killed an award-winning French journalist and eight Syrians in the strife-torn city of Homs. Gilles Jacquier of the France 2 TV network died when a mortar shell struck the pro-government rally he was attending as part of a government-authorised tour of Homs when they came under fire. The 43-year-old was the first Western journalist to die in the 10-month-old uprising in Syria against President Bashar al Assad.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused President Assad of “killing cynicism” in his response to the uprising against his rule. Al Jazeera quotes her saying at a news conference in Qatar that Assad had failed to take responsibility for the violence, choosing instead to blame the unrest on an “outside conspiracy”. She added that the Arab League mission in Syria could not go on forever.

Meanwhile, Syria TV reports President Assad made a surprise appearance at an open air rally by thousands of his supporters in Damascus. He said he wanted to show his love for the Syrian people. His wife Asmaa and their children were also briefly shown in the live broadcast. There had been speculation that they might have left Syria.

Bloomberg reports the Iranian government charged in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon that a civilian nuclear scientist who was killed by a bomb yesterday was the latest victim of a foreign terror campaign. Iranian officials have accused the US and Israel of targeting Iranian nuclear scientists in an effort to halt Iran’s nuclear programme, which Western nations say is aimed at producing atomic weapons. But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton categorically denied any US involvement in the killing of 32-year-old Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. Abrar said two assailants on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to the professor’s car, killing him and his driver. Prof Roshan was a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.

The BBC quotes the US military saying it was investigating a video that appeared to show a group of four American marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. A man's voice is heard saying: "Have a nice day, buddy."  The Marine Corps said the actions portrayed in the clip, which was posted online but has not yet been verified, were not consistent with its values.

Die Welt reports German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti she had "great respect" for the recent economic reforms passed by his interim government.  Addressing journalists after meeting Monti in Berlin, Merkel stressed that Rome would be "rewarded" for the reforms. Monti said he hoped that "the implementation of good policies would translate to sensible rates" as Italy's borrowing costs remained above the critical seven-percent mark seen as unsustainable.

USA Today says Republican Party front-runner Mitt Romney has accused President Obama of cozying up to Europe while ignoring basic American values. In his victory speech after winning the New Hampshire primary, he said Obama was determined to impose a Euro-style welfare state on the US at the expense of free enterprise. “We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity. This president takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America,” he said.

Dnevnik reports the man nominated to become Slovenia's next prime minister failed to secure a parliamentary majority, throwing the country into political uncertainty after snap elections last month. Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankovic's centre-left party Positive Slovenia won the largest share of votes in the December poll, taking 28 seats in the 90-seat parliament. But coalition talks resulted in only 42 votes in favour of him as prime minister, with only 47 votes cast after several parties abstained.

Bild says a state prosecutor has been shot dead by a defendant in a courtroom in the southern German city of Dachau. The 54-year-old suspect, first pulled out a gun and fired at the judge. He missed, and then fired three shots directly at the 31-year-old prosecutor before two witnesses in the courtroom overpowered him. The prosecutor underwent emergency surgery at a hospital but died of his wounds. The judge was unharmed.

Lagos’ Business Day reports Nigeria’s biggest oil workers’ union has threatened to halt oil production if the government did not reinstate a fuel subsidy. Its removal on January 1 more than doubled the price of petrol and provoked a nationwide strike, now in its fourth day.

Deutsche Welle says Beethoven's poor health and financial difficulties came to the fore in a recently-bequeathed letter that had been written by the composer in 1823, four years before his death. The German composer wrote the six-page letter in an effort to raise funds for his Missa Solemnis. Beethoven, who was 53 and completely deaf at the time, wanted harpist and composer Franz Anton Stockhausen help sell the score. Experts say the letter is worth more than €100,000.

Ohio Post reports that members of a breakaway Amish group have pleaded not guilty to charges of beard- and hair-cutting attacks within their community. They were accused over five incidents in which the beards and hair of Amish men and women were cut, an act particularly offensive in Amish culture. It is alleged that an internal religious dispute involving a group led by Samuel Mullet motivated the attacks. Ohio has an Amish population of about 61,000. Many Amish believe that the Bible instructs women to wear their hair long and for men to stop shaving after marriage.